


let's play pretend, let's act like it comes naturally (we look happy in our family portrait)

by AnotherShipper



Category: Dreamcatcher (Korea Band)
Genre: F/F, Fake Marriage, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Kid Fic, Vampires, Witness Protection, side jidong, suayeon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-20
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:14:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24816676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnotherShipper/pseuds/AnotherShipper
Summary: A few weeks ago, when Bora made a foolish (and drunken) wish to have a family, this wasn’t what she had in mind. Now, while under witness protection, she’ll have to pretend that this beautiful house with a nice white picket fence belonged to a happy family.How crazy could her life get while living with the little girl she saved while they witnessed a gruesome murder and said girl’s beautiful (but very human) mother?
Relationships: Kim Bora | SuA/Lee Siyeon
Comments: 55
Kudos: 174
Collections: DreamCatcher Vampire Ficfest 2k20





	1. i’m feeling like i've fallen behind

**Author's Note:**

> title taken from: the wonder years - passing through a screen door

While she was proud of her friends and the incredibly happy family they seemed to have formed, Bora couldn’t help but feel a little jealous.

Once upon a time, she thought that Handong and her would end up living happily (for)ever after. They had known each other for a while, both coming from two of the most important vampire families, and they had so many things in common.

_If only Bora had been braver._

But as years passed and none of the girls made a move, they settled in their routine as best friends.

And then came Minji.

While they were finishing college, most covens fled the city when news of vampire hunters came about, wanting to maintain their centuries long legacies. Bora and Handong’s families were one of them, they pleaded to the girls to flee with them, but both women were stubborn as hell.

They refused to run away like cowards and abandon the great life they had going in the city; their parents had no choice but to leave them behind.

One night, as Bora and Handong walked home, they heard a blood curling scream. They ran towards the source and found a masked figure standing over a woman’s bleeding body.

The figure ran away at the sight of them, Bora was about to give chase but the sight of the life leaving the red-haired woman made her stop.

“We have to save her”, Handong kneeled next to the woman and tried to find the bleeding wound.

Bora knew there was not much to do for the woman, even if they ran as fast as they could to the hospital, she wouldn’t survive.

With a shake of her head, and a heavy heart, Bora put a hand on Handong’s shoulder, “There’s nothing we could do for her”.

What Bora didn’t know though, was that there was something about the woman that called to Handong, she couldn’t explain it but there was this weird feeling on the back of her mind, and as the woman opened her eyes and made eye contact with her, Handong knew her choice was made.

Now, 10 years later, Handong and Minji welcomed their newly adopted daughter Shuxin to their home.

After Handong turned Minji, life for the trio had been rough for a while, they had to teach Minji what it meant to be a vampire and how to adapt to the completely different life that they led. Along the way, Bora saw how Minji and Handong inevitably fell in love with each other, and the day before their wedding, Handong confessed to Bora that for all she knew Minji was the love of her life, she told Bora about the weird feeling in the back of her mind when they met and how, even though it was prohibited to turn a vampire without the council’s approval, as soon as their eyes met Handong’s instinct told her that the only way for Minji to survive was to be turned into one of them.

Yes, once upon a time Bora thought her and Handong were meant to each other, but once she saw the way her friend looked at Minji as she walked down the aisle, like she held all the answers of the universe in her hands, all those thoughts flew through the window.

Now, a little bit drunk from the weird (bloody) drinks that Handong had gotten from their local friendly witch, Yoohyeon, to celebrate, Bora was feeling a little bit drunk and nostalgic.

She watched from afar how Minji chased a five year old Shuxin around their yard, a big smile on both of their faces, a smile that she saw reflected in Handong, who stood on the side talking with some of their college friends.

“Look!”, someone yelled in the distance and everyone started pointing at the sky.

Bora looked up and saw what seemed to be shooting star, from her periphery she saw Handong and Minji hugging a wide eyed Shuxin.

“Hurry! Make a wish!”

_I want what they have, I want a family of my own, I want to be happy._

With a shake of her head, Bora downed the rest of her drink, she was a grown up now (and had been for several decades) and it was foolish for her to still believe in shooting stars making your wishes come true.

“Auntie Bora! Come play with me!”, Shuxin’s hand tugging her pants broke her from her dark musings, her previously serious face was replaced by a wide smile as the girl lead her through the yard.

(Still, she couldn’t help the pang on her chest at the thought of being on the outside looking in, forever).

Maybe it was a god, or some other great power from the universe, but Bora would get her wish granted one way or another.

~~Soon.~~


	2. better run, better run, outrun my gun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bora's absolutely terrible-definitely not good-totally awful-day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title taken from: pumped up kicks - foster the people

Today was definitely  _ not  _ Bora’s day. 

It seemed like the universe was conspiring against her or karma was finally getting back at her. 

From the moment she woke up with the sun filling her room with light, everything started to go downhill: her alarm never rang so she was running late for work, her toaster exploded as soon as she plugged it in, the milk in her coffee was spoiled so she had to pour a seemingly perfect cup of a nearly emptied  _ Ospina Coffe _ box down the drain and, since she couldn’t function without coffee, ended up on a long line in Starbucks where she couldn’t buy her much needed cup of coffee since a stranger tripped and dumped their  Caramel Snickerdoodle Macchiato all over her.

Once she made it (barely on time) to the dance studio, her boss Seulgi didn’t give her any chance to change since she needed Bora to cover Momo’s class, as the woman had a family emergency.

_ Family emergency my ass,  _ Bora bitterly thought as she walked into the room with a fake smile in place,  _ if her instastories are any indication, that bitch partied a little too hard yesterday. _

Even though Bora had started the class in a bad mood, she felt the bad taste her morning had left her vanish with every beat her body matched. 

_ Maybe today won’t be so bad afterall _ , she thought with a smile as she watched the students match her movements with enthusiasm.

* * *

“So I am in like...”, the woman in front drawled out her words before pausing to pop her gum, “...a bread and water diet only, it has done wonders to my figure.”

_ This is the last time I’m letting anyone set me up on a blind date _ , Bora’s fist clenched under the table.

Bora cursed her luck (and Seulgi, who convinced her to go on this stupid blind date), her day had seemingly gotten better after covering Momo’s class and her own that followed throughout the day, all Bora wanted was to get home and soak on her bathtub and enjoy a glass of wine while  _ folklore  _ played in the background.

But then stupid Seulgi had to remind her of the blind date she had set her on with one of her wife’s coworkers.

To be honest, Bora was  _ this _ close to canceling, and it must have shown in her face since Seulgi had to threaten her with cleaning the dance rooms for a month -which she could have handled-  _ after  _ the teen groups were done.

(“You also have to be on your best behavior”, Seulgi warned her after Bora had changed into some nice clothes she had lent her, “Ara is kind of Joohyun’s boss’s niece”.

“Why would Joohyun set me with her then?”

“The girl has been whining about wanting a girlfriend for months and his uncle is tired of it, so he asked Joohyun to set her up with one of her... _ nicest  _ friends”, Seulgi pushed Bora out of the studio, “and since none where available, we had to ask you.”

Before Bora could say something back, Seulgi had already locked the studio’s door and waved cheekily at her from the inside.) 

And  _ that _ she couldn’t handle, Bora shuddered just thinking about the smell and the sweaty floors the teens left behind after Taemin’s classes.

“Do you think this picture matches my instagram feed?”, a phone was suddenly shoved in her face with no warning, “I’m trying some tips my life coach gave me, that are sure to boost the energy around me”.

_ I don’t care, _ Bora wanted to say, but the thought of cleaning after the teens classes kept her on her best behavior, no matter how much she wanted to strangle the woman in front of her. 

( _ And not in a fun way _ ).

Ara’s focus returned to her phone, “While you’re super hot, you’re also kinda boring so I think I’m gonna go? It’s not you, it’s me”, she stood up from her place and signaled the waiter for the check. “Apparently our signs are not compatible, my life coach says that even though our love could be _something,_ in the end we’ll end up burning up in flames, and I’m not into _that._ ”

Before Bora could even process what was said, Ara had already kissed her cheek and started walking backwards to the exit.

“Goodbye, my almost lover”, where Ara’s last words before she vanished from Bora’s sight.

A waiter left the check on her table, and as Bora looked at the total of $895 -since apparently  _ “only bread and water diet” Ara _ had ordered a lobster, breadsticks, and a bottle of red wine  _ to go _ \- the threads of good mood that she was clinging to vanished.

**to: seulbear** **  
** _ Kang Seulgi _ _   
_ _ I am going to kill you!!!!! _

**from: seulbear** **  
** _ new phone who dis _

* * *

If that disaster date wasn’t enough, Bora had the  _ brilliant _ idea to walk home in an attempt to de-stress.

(Which, considering how her day had gone stupidly wrong from the moment she woke up, was the worst decision she could have taken.)

Her mind was coming up with various painful scenarios of how she could get back at Seulgi when her heel snapped in half; so now she had to wobble down the road while she tried to find a store where she could buy glue to fix it.

_ Stupid day of hell, is this payback for what happened during Grandpa’s 250th? _ , so immersed was Bora in her thoughts that she had failed to notice the way she had been headed.

The previously bustling and loud streets gave way to a barely lit road; the empty streets carried an eerily and creepy feeling, that Bora would have noticed if she had been paying attention.

The vibration coming from her purse made her stop and while she took her phone out she finally realized how lonely and dark the streets around her were, it seemed like a ghost town and from experience she knew this kind of places were bad news.

Phone in hand, she took in her surroundings and tried to find the way she came from, but everything looked the same all around her.

From afar she saw a small figure standing near a barely lit alleway.

_ Maybe they can help me, _ as she approached she noticed the small figure seemed to be a trembling child holding a teddy bear tightly in her hands. The child’s gaze seemed to be focused on whatever was in that alleway.

With every step she took, an unsettling feeling overtook her; which she should have taken as a warning since her  _ vampy senses _ (as Minji liked to call them)  _ tingled  _ in an unusual way.

(Had she not been so focused on the child, Bora would have noticed that what she was feeling was similar to what Handong had described she had felt when they had found Minji bleeding out all those years ago).

Bora was near the girl when a gunshot was heard, the girl whimpered and let go of the bear.

Time froze for a second for Bora, but it sped up as she heard a buff voice yell “ _ Get that little girl _ ” in the distance. 

In any other situation, Bora would have probably thought twice about what she was about to do; but the heavy sound of nearing footsteps made her act instantly; she let go of her things and ran as fast as her powers let her towards the girl.

Bora had forgotten about the broken heel though, so she stumbled right in front of the child; in any other circumstances she would have taken on the threat, but the child’s whimpers and the sight of two burly men in red coats coming right at them -and the body bleeding out in the alley- spurred her into action.

She took the girl into her arms and ran as fast as (humanly possible) she could with a broken heel, which she finally discarded a couple of steps in. The girl was trembling in her arms and extending a hand towards her fallen teddy bear.

Bora didn’t have to look back to know the men were gaining on her, she ran through the dark streets and thanks to her superior vision she spotted what seemed to be a good hiding place: a small square with stores under construction.

She entered the first store she could and hid herself and the girl behind some pillars and construction materials.

Big brown eyes full of tears met hers; Bora put a finger in front of her lips as a signal to keep quiet, she needed to be sure the men wouldn’t find them before anything else happened. 

_ I should call the police _ , Bora thought and reached for her purse.  _ Fuck, I dropped everything back there. _

Arms wrapping around her and a head burying into her neck stopped her train of thought.

It wasn’t an unfamiliar feeling, since Bora was used to Shuxin doing the same thing when she was tired, scared or sad; but the fact that it was coming from a stranger while they were escaping some bad men gave her pause.

“Look over there!”, a voice was heard from afar.“They couldn’t have gone far!”

The girl in her arms tensed, so Bora ran her hands up and down her back in an attempt to calm her down.

As the men’s voice started to sound nearer and nearer, Bora’s mind started running wild with possible escape plans. 

_ I could leave the girl here and lead them through a wild chase before ending their miserable lives,  _ the memory of their red coats have her pause,  _ what if they are armed and ready for me? If I leave, this girl wouldn’t have a fighting chance, _ her eyes ran over their hideout place, searching for another way out.

Her planning came to a halt when the sound of a siren carried down the street.

Some swear words were heard followed by the sound of retreating footsteps, and from the corner of her eye Bora saw the street be painted by red and blue hues.

Even though it seemed like the men were gone, Bora refused to move from their place.

“Is someone there?” a voice called out from outside the store and a light started shining outside the place. 

“The report says the alarm was activated from store D”, a set of footsteps approached. 

“Police!” a yell was heard before their hidden place was lit with several flashlights, Bora was momentarily blinded and it took a few tries before her eyes could focus on the people in uniform in front of them.

A small woman in uniform radioed in, “We found a woman and a child huddling inside store D, they match the description given by the anonymous tip. The other suspects are nowhere to be seen”.

“Ma’am, we’ll take you and your child to the station.” 

Bora wanted to say that the child in her arms wasn’t hers, but as soon as she opened her mouth no words came out and her eyes rolled back, maybe it was the stress of this horrible day finally piling up that made her pass out for a few seconds.

It wasn’t the shouts of the officers calling for the paramedics that brought her back, but a little hand pulling on hers.

Once she got her bearings, ignoring the officers' helping hands, Bora stood up with the girl in her arms and followed the rest outside; she couldn’t explain exactly why but there was something inside of her telling her to protect the child, whatever it took.

The trip to the station passed in a blur and before Bora knew it they were being interrogated about what had happened that night and the men responsible for the woman dying in the alleyway where their things had been found.

Once the officers had found out the child wasn’t Bora’s, they had tried to pry her off her arms but the girl screamed as soon as anyone else touched her and buried herself deeper into Bora, who had taken to glaring at anyone that tried to take the girl away from her arms.

Hours had passed before they could locate the child’s mother -who was now sleeping on her lap-, and they had been moved to the chief’s office and told to wait for further instructions there. 

_ I don’t think this day could get any worse,  _ Bora hoped the woman could show up soon so they could get on with their lives and forget about this horrible ordeal.

While Bora fantasized about that bottle of that  _ 2008 Egon Müller Scharzhofberger Spätlese Riesling  _ she had been saving for a special occasion, a woman that seemed to be in the edge of having a breakdown showed up on the doorway and sobbed when her eyes settled on the child.

The sound woke the child up, who rubbed her eyes and yelled “Mommy!” before launching herself into her mother’s arms.

Bora felt a thug on her heartstrings at the tearful reunion, her eyes connected with the child’s mother and the world seemed to stop on its axis.

Before either of them could say anything, the police chief walked into the room with a tall intimidating woman.

“This is FBI Agent Kim Sojung.”, the man walked around his desk and took a seat, “She’s gonna be the agent in charge of the investigation.”

“In-investigation?”, the child’s mother tried to seem strong but the worry was evident in her voice.

The same instinct that made Bora want to protect the child seemed to extend to the child’s mother, but before she could think about it any further the agent’s words brought her back to the room.

“...we would have to put you under witness protection until the investigation and trial are over”.

“ _ WHAT?! _ ?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this ended up being longer than what i was expecting lmfao
> 
> thank you all for liking this fic so far, i hope you'll keep on liking what i've in store for this fic.
> 
> you can also find me on tw: @anothershipper  
> cc:/anothershipper
> 
> btw i know i suck at updating but imma try my best to be more constant. tbh before joining kpop stan twitter i had written 0 fics in years cause i had lost all motivation and confidence in my work, but kpop gave it back to me haha 
> 
> please bear with me while i try to get back into this rodea called writing fanfiction uwu
> 
> also, sorry for any mistakes this has been proofread like once (and written while i was in a trance haha) but english aint my first language u.u
> 
> (yes, i did kinda copy the note from my other fic lol)


	3. it’s a catastrophe from ceiling to floor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The (not so) calm before the storm.
> 
> aka. the road to witsec

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title taken from: i made a mess -they might be giants

Bora’s panicked reaction made everyone in the room turn back at her.

“The men you encountered are part of a dangerous group that has been involved in several gruesome crimes…” the chief paused, wondering how much he could reveal.

Agent Kim took over, “We have had people willing to testify against them but they always end up disappearing or dying of  _ mysterious _ circumstances. You are the first witnesses in months we could get a hold of, with your testimony we could start a trial soon and put them behind bars once and for all.”

Bora swallowed hard, a million thoughts racing through her head. 

_ I could probably move back with my parents, if I explain the situation to Handong and Minji they’ll surely follow me. Moreso knowing  _ they _ are part of this mess. It’s probably safer to leave the city knowing that  _ they _ know of my existence… even if they don’t know I’m a vampire, but they’ll surely find out soon if they’re hellbent of getting rid of anyone that crosses their path. _

Her worried eyes swept all over the room until they settled on the child and her mother, even though her mind screamed to run the hell away from this city, there was something inside her telling her to stay and protect the pair in front of her.

“We’ll put you under  _ WITSEC _ together”, Agent Kim told them. “It is unusual but this is a  _ special  _ case. While you’re under no obligation to enter the program, we strongly suggest you do since your testimony would be vital to the case and your lives are in danger either way.”

It seemed like Bora really had no choice but to follow the agent’s order. Her eyes settled on the child’s mother who was intently looking at her.

“I’ll do anything to protect Hyejoo”, the woman’s jaw was set, her gaze defiant as if daring Bora to do anything that would put them in danger.

Bora faced Agent Kim once again and with a heavy sigh said, “I’ll do whatever you need me to do”.

* * *

Her mind had been running a mile a minute trying (and failing) to find a solution for the mess she was in.

(So far, she had none)

While Agent Kim explained the logistics of their whole plan, Bora had been unable to focus on whatever the woman was saying, just nodding here and there to try and appear interested in the plan that would (hopefully) save their lives.

It had been two long hours before Agent Kim had taken the woman -who she only knew as Miss Lee so far- and Hyejoo aside to finally question the child since her mother was finally present.

They had left the room with the chief not far behind them, leaving Bora alone in the little office.

_ What am I gonna do? _ , she put her head in her hands and screamed in frustration.

Her cellphone was nowhere to be found and her petition to contact someone had been denied for  _ “security reasons”. _ The chief and Agent Kim the less people knew about her whereabouts the better, which sounded fair in the situation she was in but there was no way in hell she could  _ not  _ tell Handong about it.

After not getting back home after her date, Handong would surely assume she had spent the night at her date’s house and had woken up early the next day waiting for Bora’s walk of shame. 

When that didn’t happen, Handong would blow up her phone until Bora told her the juicy details about the night before; and when her calls or text met no answer she would surely assume something bad had happened, since Bora always called or texted her back to assure her she was fine.

Someone whistling a soft tune interrupted her train of thought, it seemed like whoever was making that sound was coming near the office she was in.

Without hesitation, Bora got up on her feet and hurriedly opened the door, sticking her head out the door.

There was a young officer distractedly making his way down the hall, his eyes focused on whatever he was doing on his phone.

It was like a lightbulb lit up on her head, she looked around and after seeing the hallway was empty she called the officer over.

“Excuse me, officer?”

At the unexpected call, the young officer seemed to lose composure for a second before clearing his throat and gathering his bearings. 

“H-how can I help you, ma’am?”

Bora pulled him inside the room and before he could complain she looked right into his eyes. The man seemed confused for a second before his gaze became blank.

“You’re going to give me your phone”, Bora’s words were kind of slow but strong, her eyes never leaving the man’s, “let me make a call, and after I give your phone back to you, you’ll forget this ever happened”.

Bora extended her hand and smirked once the man complied with her instructions.

Sure, messing with someone else’s mind was something the council highly frowned upon, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

Since time was not on her side, Bora quickly dialed the number she knew by heart.

“ _ Kim Han Residence”,  _ Handong’s voice on the other side of the line almost made Bora weep.

“Handong, listen…”

_ “Bora? What-” _

“...I don’t have much time but we have a Code Ostrich”

_ “You’re near a zombie or about to become one?” _

“No! That's a Code Pill Bug!”, Bora discreetly peeked through one of the blinds, she could see Agent Kim coming back with Miss Lee and Hyejoo, “Look I don’t have much time”

_ “Bora? What is going on?”, _ Bora’s panicked voice worried Handong,  _ “Where are-” _

Bora interrupted her again, her words coming out of her mouth as fast as she could say them, “I’m going under  _ that _ _program_ and won’t get to see you and the girls soon, don't worry about me…”

_ “You’re going under witness-” _

“I love you all, bye!”

She cut the call and put the phone back on the officer’s hand, he blinked several times and seemed really confused about where he was.

Agent Kim entered the room and sized the officer up, “Can I help you with something, officer?”

“No, I…”, the officer scratched his head. Once he saw Agent Kim’s fierce gaze he gulped and left the room without another word.

“Did he say something?”, Agent Kim asked Bora.

“I think he was looking for the chief? I don’t know, he came in a few seconds before you did”

“Uh”

It seemed like Agent Kim bought it and Bora sighed in relief, at least Handong now knew about the situation, hopefully Bora could try and contact her once she was in a safe place.

A body cuddling into her made her jump in her seat.

Hyejoo had cuddled right into her side, Bora hesitated for a second and looked at Miss Lee, who seemed in awe or something.

With a tilt of her head Bora asked for permission to cuddle Hyejoo back, which she did after Miss Lee gave her a slight nod.

“Ehem”, Agent Kim cleared her throat, making both women turn to look at her, “It seems like everything is now in order. Another agent will drive you to the safe house you’ll be staying in, and the agent in charge of your safety will tell you everything you need to know once you arrive”.

* * *

It felt like it had been hours -when in reality it had been no more than 30 minutes- since they left the station and were ushered into a (totally inconspicuous) pink van.

The three witnesses were seated on the back of the van, the only thing that separated them from the front seats was a one way window, which meant that they were basically blind to the road they were taking.

Hyejoo had attached herself to Bora’s side as soon as they were in the van, earning another curious glance from her mother, and it didn’t take long for the girl to fall asleep in Bora’s arms.

To be honest Bora didn’t mind the girl being clingy with her, it actually settled her nervous self a little to have that comfort. In any other situation she would have found it weird, but there was something about Hyejoo and her mother that made her feel safe.

“She really likes you”, Miss Lee’s voice was full of wonder.

Bora turned to look at her and blushed at the other woman’s sharp gaze.

“We bonded a little during those awful moments, Miss Lee”, she caressed the sleeping girl's hair.

“Siyeon”

“Uh?”

“My name is Siyeon, Lee Siyeon”

Bora stuck out her hand to Siyeon, “Kim Bora”.

As soon as their hands made contact, Bora felt like electricity ran down her body, her breath hitched and a warm feeling settled all over her chest.

_ What was that? _ , the van going through a pothole disconnected their hands, making Bora forget about the weird sensation she felt mere seconds ago.

Hyejoo’s head had apparently bumped against the seat, making her whine in her sleep, Bora immediately caressed the affected part and settled the girl back to sleep.

“Hyejoo is not usually fond of strangers”, Siyeon broke the silence that had settled over the van, “She is really shy”, the woman let out a little laugh that seemed a bit hollow, “and seems to have really high walls for a six year old”.

Bora didn’t know what to say, but there was something inside of her that wanted to comfort the woman in front of her.

“Well, I am glad she’s fond of me. I wouldn’t have made it if it wasn’t for her”.

Her words seemed to lift a weight off Siyeon’s shoulders.

“Thank you, for saving her”

Siyeon and Bora looked straight into the other’s eyes, trying to convey with a look what they couldn’t say with words.

Soon enough, a comfortable silence enveloped them, and after a few minutes the van’s movements lulled them to sleep.

Someone shaking her woke Bora up, she stretched her arms above her head and let out a loud groan.

A giggle made her remember she was not alone. Hyejoo’s cheeky smile greeted her, Bora stuck out her tongue at her, making the girl do the same thing back. 

“It seems like we are here”, Siyeon interrupted their silly game.

The drive to the safe house had been extremely long, it seemed that they were not only leaving the city but the state too; and according to Siyeon (and her watch), they had been on the road for more than 12 hours.

(Bora was actually surprised she had slept that long, it seemed like the really bad day she had had the day before was finally taking its toll on her).

With the car coming to a stop, the reality of the situation came back into both women’s minds, after they got out of the car there was no turning back. Their lives were about to change forever.

The backdoors to the van opened and a dark sky greeted them, the moon their only witness on this lonely street.

When she stepped out of the van, with Hyejoo following closely behind her, Bora scanned their surroundings. It seemed like they were in some kind of suburb, rows of two story houses with white picket fences extended along the street.

Since it was the middle of the night, the street around them was quiet, it seemed like the whole neighborhood had agreed to turn in early and let the new arrivals have some peace before whatever the place had in store for them began.

The officers walked them to what seemed to be their safehouse, one of the two houses at the end of the street; they seemed to radio someone and await for confirmation of something.

The front door suddenly opened, and a small woman with short light brown hair came out of the house; she wore black jeans and a red leather jacket with black sleeves, if it weren’t for the FBI badge hanging around her neck they would have mistaken her for an ordinary citizen.

“Hello ladies, I am Agent Lee Dami and I’m going to be the agent in charge of your case”

She shook Siyeon’s hand first with an impassive face before doing the same with the other woman, but despite Agent Lee’s poker face, Bora could see the mischief dancing in her eyes as they shook hands.

While the Agent walked to the open door, Siyeon took her daughter’s hand in hers who in turn took Bora’s with her free hand, the two women exchanged a soft but nervous look before walking into what was going to be their home for an unknown amount of time.

Agent Lee followed behind them and said, “Welcome to your new life”, before closing the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you liked this new chapter!!! let me know what you think so far!
> 
> for real this time, imma try to update sooner lol, i seem to forget that imagining the story in my head won't make it magically appear in here.
> 
> also!! someone asked me last chapter what kind of powers vampires have in this fic *eyes emoji*
> 
> So far Bora has heightened senses (her "vampy senses" too), she can go fast, and do some weird mind control shit. 
> 
> come yell at me:  
> twitter: @anothershipper  
> cc: /anothershipper


	4. oh, my world is turning inside out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> it's their first night in witsec, and it gets bora thinking

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title taken from: play the game - kodaline

The inside of the house was as beautiful as the outside; it was modern but still had the charm of the two stories high with a white picket fence that every song and movie talked about, the one that everyone dreamed of.

The living room seemed cozy, an L shaped couch occupied most of the room, two small tables by its sides and a big center table in front of it; there was also a decent sized electric fireplace on one of the walls with a big flat screen above it. Next to it, there was a small dining room space, with a beautiful dark mahogany table that sat 6 people, a wide marmol counter a few feet to the left, dividing the dining room and a spacious kitchen. 

“This house is…”, Siyeon and Hyejoo looked around in awe.

“Smaller than I expected”, Bora said quietly with a frown on her face.

“...amazing”, Siyeon finished with a smile on her face, “Maybe this won’t be so bad, right Hyejoo?”, she knelt next to her daughter and hugged her tightly.

“It’s bigger than our home”, Hyejoo clapped her hands with a giggle.

“Yeah! This house is superb, it exceeds my expectations!”, Bora’s voice startled the mother-daughter duo, who just looked at her weirdly. 

_ What was that? _ , Bora questioned herself while taking a deeper look at her surroundings. The house was surely charming, but if they were going to be in this for the long haul, she kind of expected a little bit  _ more _ than this. Or maybe that was just her, a long life full of luxury had probably made her kind of a snob; it seemed like the little family was more than fine with what they had been given, so who was Bora to complain?

The excitement seemed to be catching up to Hyejoo, the little girl struggling to keep her eyes open, leaning onto her mother’s side.

“I should probably put her to bed”, Siyeon took her daughter into her arms, who immediately burrowed her head against her neck.

“The kid’s room is upstairs, last room to the left.”, with a move of her head, Agent Lee pointed to the stairs, “The bed has some railings on the side that can be pulled up in case she needs them. I think there are already some clothes in the closet, if they don’t fit, I can take you to get some that will sometime this week.”.

“Thank you”, were Siyeon’s last words before heading upstairs, leaving Yubin and Bora behind on the first floor.

The agent watched the little family go with a small smile on her face, she had always had a spot for children. Since she was distracted, she didn’t watch Bora making her way to her, much less she saw the fist coming right at her.

“What. The. Fuck. Bora?”, the agent cradled her cheek with one hand.

“That’s what I should be asking you! What the fuck, Yubin!”

* * *

When Siyeon came back down the stairs, Bora and the agent seemed to be having a staring contest with each other, a weird vibe surrounding them. 

“Did I miss something?”, Siyeon’s voice seemed wary.

Agent Lee turned to look at Siyeon, giving her a reassuring smile she said, “No, Miss Kim and I were just talking about what would be expected for you, right?”

Bora glared at the agent, her eyes never leaving her while she answered a “Right” through gritted teeth.

“Wouldn’t it have been best to talk about it with me present? I mean, we’re in this together after all”, Siyeon crossed her arms, the events of the past day were finally catching up with her. Gone was the nervous and scared mother they had met, it seemed that putting her daughter safely between the covers had given her a little bit of peace.

Bora and Yubin looked at each other, surprised at Siyeon’s sudden mood change. 

“It-it’s my fault”, Bora said while staring at the ground, “I was just...I need some answers. I apologize”

“Just don’t do it again, please”, Siyeon seemed to relax a little with Bora’s apology, her eyes then found the agent’s, “So, what did you talk about?”

“As I, uh, told Miss Kim before”, Yubin cleared her throat, “Tomorrow we’ll give you a full debrief of the situation and everything that you’ll have to do, as well as what you can and cannot do while being part of the Witness Protection program and uh…”, Siyeon’s piercing gaze made the agent stumble over her words.

Bora’s eyes had never left Siyeon during the agent’s explanation, the mother just nodded at whatever Yubin said but it seemed like she didn’t believe the two women had talked about that during the time it took her to put Hyejoo to bed.

“Maybe”, Bora interrupted whatever the agent was going to say, “We should save this talk for tomorrow, once we’re all well rested and with Hyejoo present too, we can discuss everything in detail.”

Siyeon looked intensely at both women in front of her, before letting her arms drop to her sides, “Fine.”

“If any of you need me, I’ll be staying at the small guesthouse at the back of the house”, where Yubin’s final words before she left Siyeon and Bora by themselves.

“I was-”

“Are you-”

Both spoke at the same time, making each other laugh. The previous tension that was present in the room vanished. Bora signaled for Siyeon to go first.

“Are you hungry? I was going to see if I could throw something together with whatever’s in the kitchen”

Bora bit her lip and twirled one of her rings, “I’m not that hungry, but I could join you in the kitchen?”

“You’re more than welcome too”.

* * *

Spending time with Siyeon had been  _ something _ . It kind of unsettled Bora all these strange feelings bubbling up inside of her, it was weird, this  _ instinct  _ of wanting to protect and take care of the little family she had somehow ended up stuck with confused her. 

It was something she had never felt before, if only she could talk to Handong, maybe she could make sense of whatever was going on with her.

At first, Siyeon had been really quiet, but as she prepared herself something with the only edible things she found in the kitchen, her shyness seemed to fade away, chit chatting with Bora about anything and everything that came to her mind.

Bora added little to the conversation, preferring to observe Siyeon as she worked.

Before long, Siyeon was done eating her food, putting her plate on the sink. She was about to start washing everything she had used when Bora stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.

“You look like you’re gonna fall asleep on your feed. I can clean this up”

“I can’t make you do that, you didn’t even eat anything”

“It’s okay, there’s no way I could sleep after the long ass nap I took on the way here”, Bora lightly pushed Siyeon out of the kitchen.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, now go to sleep”

“Thank you, Bora”, Siyeon gave Bora a soft look before heading upstairs.

Bora listened to Siyeon moving upstairs, if her footsteps were anything to go by, she was surely heading to Hyejoo’s room. Not that Bora would blame her, after what happened there was no way the mother would be letting her daughter out of her sight anytime soon.

With a sigh, Bora started cleaning up the kitchen, her mind wandering to her earlier discussion with Yubin.

* * *

_ “That’s what I should be asking you! What the fuck, Yubin!”, Bora stage-whispered at Yubin, not wanting to draw the attention of the other house occupants.  _

_ “I forgot you had a mean right hook”, Yubin chuckled. _

_ Bora grabbed Yubin from her collar and pushed her against the wall, “If you don’t start talking, I swear…” _

_ Yubin pushed Bora away from her, and fixed her clothes. “Someone sent me here to help  _ your  _ ass.” _

_ “Who…?”, Bora seemed confused for a minute, but then Yubin gave her a look and it dawned on her, “Handong? What? How?” _

_ “Let’s just say she called in some favors, and here we are” _

_ “She did that for me?” _

_ “You know you mean the world to her. Always have.”, there was something about Yubin’s tone that bothered Bora. _

_ “Wait… why do you sound bitter?” _

_ “Pfft, I don’t”, Yubin tried to dismiss Bora. _

_ “Oh my god. Are you still not over it?”, if how Yubin tensed was any indication, it seemed like Bora had hit the jackpot, “It’s been  _ decades”

_ “I don’t know what you’re talking about”, Yubin put her hands on her hip, the movement revealing the shiny badge resting on her belt. _

_ The sight of it sobered Bora, her once relaxed stance tensing once again. Even though Yubin had once been her friend, she was now a stranger. One that was apparently in charge of them. And while she could forgive what happened in the past, she would never  _ ever _ forget. _

_ Yubin caught Bora's glare, but before anyone of them could say anything, the sound of Siyeon coming down the stairs stopped them from saying anything out loud. _

I know you don’t fully trust me,  _ Bora heard inside her mind,  _ but I’m on your side.

_ If there was something Bora hated about Yubin -moreso than the woman herself-, were her special abilities. _

_ A vampire's abilities depended of their family history; the mix of their parent's blood during The Ritual would determine which ability would they inherit: it usually ended up being the one from the stronger parent, but in some really weird cases, the child got both. _

_ Don't get her wrong, Bora was glad of being able to mind control people -to a greater extent than the rest of her family, she'd proudly add- but telephaty AND mind reading did sound amazing too. Nevermind the fact that Yubin had not only one but two abilities. _

_ Ever since she had met the agent the first time, Bora had been envious of the woman, since not only could she communicate telepathically with others, she could also read them if the other person’s thoughts were loud enough, and sometimes, if she focused with all her might, she could read them at will. Which seemed useful to the other woman’s current career choice. _

If you double cross me,  _ Bora thought as loudly as she could, knowing the other would hear it,  _ I’ll end you, as I should have all those years ago.

_ Yubin visibly gulped, while she had changed for the better, Bora didn’t have a way of knowing that. _

_ Before she could say anything to reassure the other woman, Siyeon’s voice interrupted them. _

_ “Did I miss something?” _

* * *

No matter how many decades had passed, Bora could never forget Yubin’s betrayal.

But it seemed like Handong trusted the other enough to help Bora and keep her safe, so she would  _ try  _ to be in her best behavior and not punch Yubin again or something like that, even though the agent deserved it and more.

Now that her thoughts had wandered over her best friend, Bora couldn’t help but think about how she was doing. If  _ they _ were after her, once they realized who she was,  _ what she was _ , they’d surely go after Handong too.

After years of not doing it, Bora sent a silent prayer to the gods’ she stopped believing in ages ago. 

_ Please, whichever deity is out there, don’t let anything happen to any of them. _

Once the kitchen was squeaky clean, Bora headed to the living room and plopped down on the couch, a tired groan leaving her lips. 

Her eyes settled on the golden ring with the blood red sapphire sitting on her right hand’s ring finger, the one she had twirled when Siyeon asked if she wanted to eat with her.

That golden ring had always been her favorite, not only because it was beautiful, no, Bora loved this ring because the power that it contained had always fascinated her.

When she had been young and unafraid, she had gotten obsessed with vampire history, going as far as to travel to the most recondits places on Earth to find some piece of lost lore. In one of her first travels after receiving her ring, Bora had ended up in London’s underground scene, the whole place was kind of shady, but the knowledge that Bora found was amazing.

She had learned from an old vampire (who was surprisingly, also a powerful -but now retired- witch) that in a time long forgotten, vampires had been victims of the sun, only able to go out in the dead of the night, unless they wanted to face a painful and slow death, being burned to a crisp by daylight. Their blood thirst sometimes drove them insane, especially if they hadn’t fed in more than a day; of course, the stronger vampires could last longer without fresh blood, but they always perished at some point if they didn’t have any.

Their blood red eyes, their lack of heartbeat, their inability to eat and drink  _ human _ food, and their cold dead skin had put them at disadvantage for ages. If a vampire had someone been lucky to pass up as human for some time, one of those things would give them away.

They were hunted with pitchforks and torches, tortured by those who wanted the power they wielded, killed for simply wanting to  _ live _ .

One smart vampire, tired from everything, had made a deal with a coven of witches to find a way to fight the downsides of being a vampire: in exchange of helping them, the witches would be under the vampire’s protection.

After some trial and error, during a solar eclipse, the witches found a way to infuse a gem with their magic and the vampire’s blood during a solar eclipse. Once the moon gave way to the sun once again, the vampire stood still outside, one hand clutching the gem. Instead of feeling their insides start burning up, they felt the soft caress of the sunrays. Ecstatic, the vampire immediately turned to the witches with a blinding smile on their face; the witches told the vampire with awe on their voice about how they looked like a human: their skin wasn’t as pale and their eyes were a nice shade of blue instead of blood red.

As time passed, the vampire found out about more perks about the gem that they now carried around their neck: they could eat and drink human food at their hearts content, their bloodlust had calmed down and they also found out (after an adventure gone wrong) that they could last up to three days without drinking blood and not have any adverse effects; and their heart started beating again (or at least it appeared to).

Sure, their powers seemed to be a little bit muted, but that was a small price to pay for freedom, for finally having a life worth living.

After hearing that story, Bora couldn’t help but look at her ring in awe; wondering how different her life would be if she didn’t have it. 

_ When was the last time that I fed? _ , Bora thought to herself.  _ Was it two days ago? The morning this shitshow started? _ , her eyes widened,  _ Fuck. How am I gonna feed if there are two humans here? _

Her memory seemed to fail her, but to be on the safe side, she would ask Yubin tomorrow to help her with her predicament. 

Wanting to silence her worried thoughts, she turned the TV on and was pleasantly surprised when Netflix’s home screen showed up.

_ At least I won’t die of boredom here. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is a little lore heavy, i hope you liked it tho!   
> would anyone be interested of me making a playlist with the songs i used on the titles?
> 
> all mistakes are mine, sorry lol  
> come yell at me:  
> twitter: @anothershipper  
> cc: /anothershipper


	5. i didn't get much sleep last night but that's alright

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> life lesson: bora should stop zoning out so much

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title taken from: gum - moose blood

Bora was in a trance watching another episode of  _ Legends of Tomorrow _ , when someone sat down next to her, but she paid it no mind, her eyes focused on whatever shenanigans the Legends were getting on in that episode.

“What are you watching?”, a small voice said next to her.

Bora rubbed her eyes and looked at Hyejoo sitting next to her.

While she didn’t necessarily  _ need _ to sleep (unless she hadn’t fed well in days or something as crazy as the last few days happened) like a regular human, Bora was like ninety nine percent sure children need to sleep more than a regular adult; so seeing Hyejoo looking wide awake made her a little bit worried.

“Shouldn’t you be sleeping?”

“It’s already eight in the morning”, Hyejoo’s ‘ _ are you serious’ _ tone made Bora chuckle, it seemed like the kid had really taken a liking to her if she was already using that tone on her.

Seeing as Bora didn’t tell her to get lost or something similar like others had done with her in the past, Hyejoo took it as a sign to get comfortable, so she laid her head on Bora’s lap. 

_ It seems like I spent the whole night binge watching this, _ Bora stretched her arms before changing the show to something more child friendly.

“Why did you change it?” Hyejoo whined as she burrowed further into Bora’s lap.

Bora laughed and ruffled Hyejoo’s hair, pulling another whine from the child.

“You’re like five? You can’t watch the show I was watching”, her eyes pursued Netflix Kids’ catalog, trying to find something suitable for Hyejoo that wouldn’t bore her to death; if only she could contact Handong, she could ask her what Shuxin was into these days.

“I’m almost six and a half!”, Hyejoo lifted herself up from Bora’s lap and crossed her arms in defiance.

Bora chuckled, this kid was something else, “You can’t watch  _ Legends  _ until you’re like…”, she paused dramatically, “...twenty or something.”

Hyejoo started counting with her fingers how many years it would take her to watch whatever Bora was watching, when she ran out of fingers to keep her count, she took one of Bora’s hands and kept going till she reached twenty.

“No fair! That’s like  _ so many years! _ ”, the child pouted and threw her arms up.

Siyeon, who had been watching the exchange from the staircase, decided to intervene before Hyejoo’s stubborn self would escalate the situation.

“Hyejoo, you know the rules.”

Hyejoo dramatically dropped back to Bora’s lap and mumbled, “No TV before breakfast”.

Siyeon raised an eyebrow at Bora, who was watching her with an amused smile on her face, and nodded the kitchen’s way before heading over there; getting the hint Bora turned off the TV and put a hand on Hyejoo’s shoulder.

“C’mon kid, something tells me your mother is not someone to be messed with.”

Groaning, Hyejoo got up from the couch and grabbed the woman’s hand once she had stood up too; thinking that maybe Bora could convince her mother to have something sugary for breakfast instead of their usual healthy food.

* * *

The sight of Siyeon hard at work greeted them, it seemed like she was making an omelette with what little she could find in the fridge.

Hyejoo tugged on Bora’s arm and asked her to help her sit on the counter, where she immediately sagged in defeat when she saw her mother making something healthy, her hopes and dreams of maybe having pancakes or some cereal gone as fast as they came.

“We should ask Agent Lee if we could go grocery shopping soon, it seems like they forgot to restock the fridge”, Siyeon said without looking up from her work.

_ That  _ reminded Bora of something very important.

“Maybe I should ask Agent Lee if she wants to join us! I don’t think the guest house has a kitchen”, not waiting for an answer, Bora headed to the guest house.

The vampire whistled in awe as she took in her surroundings, while from the outside the house didn’t seem to be  _ that _ big, the sight that greeted her was completely different to what she had expected.

The yard was  _ huge _ . There were even some fruit trees scattered around, a swing set on one side and a decent sized pool on the other, and right behind it was what seemed to be a tool’s shed and the guest house. 

When she had first thought about  _ Witsec _ , she had imagined a run down house in the middle of nowhere, not  _ this. _ At least their time in the program would be a little bearable while living here.

Bora approached the guest house and knocked on the door, as soon as the door opened, a purple travel mug was thrusted into her hands.

“Something tells me you’re going to need  _ that _ ”, Yubin said before getting out of the guest house and locking the door behind her, a folder held tightly in one hand and a similar travel mug like the one she gave to Bora -a yellow one though- in the other.

Bora eyed the agent with distrust, while it seemed like Yubin was here to help her, she still wasn’t trusting the agent’s intentions. Not after everything they had been through.

“It’s not poisoned”, Yubin rolled her eyes and took a sip from her own mug; and after she swallowed, she discreetly showed the other vampire her teeth.

_ Oh _ , Bora thought as she looked at the reddish tint on Yubin’s teeth; without wasting another second, Bora opened her travel mug and started drinking as fast as possible. The taste of blood made her sigh in relief, it had been longer than it should have been since she last fed; another day without blood and things would have started to get ugly.

Or well,  _ uglier  _ than they already were.

“Take it easy”, Yubin put a hand on Bora’s elbow to stop her from drinking too fast, “If you keep going like that, you’re going to peak and fall  _ fast _ , and you know that’s never pretty for you _ ”. _

Bora growled at Yubin’s interference, but as much as it pained her to admit, Yubin was right. If she kept drinking at a stupidly fast pace, she would get a sudden burst of energy for a few minutes and then get knocked out cold for hours while her system processed all that sudden blood intake after being dry for days. 

Cleaning her lips with the back of her hand after Yubin gave her a sign to, Bora put the travel mug down and closed it tightly.

“I’m stopping because I don’t want a  _ blood rush _ ,  _ not _ because  _ you _ said so”, Bora glared at Yubin, trying to get her point across. 

“A  _ thank you _ would have sufficed”, the agent rolled her eyes, “I have a few blood bags in the guest house for you, but we’ll have to think about you having a stock somewhere inside the house, that way you won’t have to rely on me whenever you need to feed”.

“The less I have to interact with you, the better”, Bora crossed her arms in defiance.

“Hey!”, Siyeon yelled at them from one of the kitchen’s windows, “Breakfast is ready!”

With their conversation coming to an end, Bora headed first inside the house, not bothering to check if Yubin was following her.

The agent just sighed, it seemed like this job was just going to get harder if her and Bora didn’t patch things up sometime soon. 

* * *

“Agent Lee! I’m glad you’re joining us for breakfast”, Siyeon said as soon as the two other women walked inside.

Bora suddenly remembered she was supposed to ask the agent to have breakfast with them; she looked at the agent with wide eyes and thought loudly to follow along, knowing the other vampire would hear it in her mind.

“ _ Yes _ , thank you for the invitation”, the agent sat on the table opposite Hyejoo, who eyed her weirdly, the child’s face devoid of any feelings.

Seeing her daughter looking weirdly at the agent, a flustered Siyeon quickly said, “Sorry about her, she’s a little bit shy around strangers”.

As if to prove her mother wrong, Hyejoo looked at Bora and said, “I want Bora to sit next to me, mommy”.

Bora smiled mockingly at Yubin, rejoicing in the victory of being liked by Hyejoo even if she was also a stranger.

“It’d be my honor”, she took a seat next to Hyejoo, whose previously impassive face transformed into a smiling one once Bora was next to her.

Siyeon just shook her head, wondering what made the other woman so special to her daughter, as she put a plate with food in front of everyone before taking her seat on the chair opposite to Bora. 

As they ate, Siyeon saw Bora sipping from a purple travel mug that she hadn’t seen in the pantry when she had checked it the previous night. 

Bora saw Siyeon eyeing the travel mug, and before the other woman could question it, she said “Agent Lee gave me a protein shake, since she thought I looked too weak yesterday”, then she whispered behind her hand, “You’re lucky you didn’t get one, it tastes  _ so  _ bad _ ”. _

Siyeon giggled at Bora’s remark, side eyeing the agent sitting next to her, who just pretended she hadn’t heard Bora’s words.

* * *

Once they were done with breakfast, Agent Lee cleared her throat and put the folder she had been carrying in front of her. 

“As you know, you’re now part of the  _ Witness Protection Program _ until the criminals we’re after are sentenced and put behind bars. Since protecting you is our priority, a set of ground rules will be established; we’ll do everything in our hands to keep you safe, but you’ll also need to do your part.”

Bora figured that whatever Yubin was going to say next was going to be along the  _ don’t do anything that’ll blow your cover and get yourself killed _ lines, so she just tuned out. After all,  _ she _ was almost a century old vampire, she could take care of herself and the little family she had found herself in.

Yubin extending her full hand over her and giving her something snapped her out of her thoughts; the sight of a set of documents with her face on it surprised her. It was weird seeing a picture of herself -with shorter hair that was a different color to the one she was currently sporting- next to a foreign name.

Amongst the set of documents was an ID, a driver’s license, a passport, a debit  _ and  _ credit card, a birth certificate, a work permit, some education degrees, and other official documents, all under the name of  _ Sua Hye. _

“ _ Sua Hye? _ ”, Bora scoffed as she looked everything over, “Who picked this ridiculous name?”

Knowing Bora hadn’t been paying attention to her, Yubin said, “The kid did”.

Trying to hide her embarrassment, Bora turned to look at Hyejoo and out a hand on her shoulder, “I-I me-mean”, she stuttered, “It’s a, uh, a terrific name! Great job kid!”

Hyejoo just looked confused at Bora’s words, and it took a few seconds, plus Siyeon barely containing her laughter to realize she had been played with.

“Ha.ha.”, she ironically laughed while looking at Yubin.

_ I knew you weren’t paying attention, _ the agent projected into her mind.

“So, uh, Agent Lee”, Siyeon interrupted whatever the agent was going to say next.

“You can call me Dami”, the agent gave the mother a soft smile that didn’t go unnoticed by Bora, who could only clench one of her fists under the table at the sight.

Siyeon nervously chuckled, a light pinkish tone adorning her cheeks. “So  _ Dami _ , I was wondering if Hyejoo was going to be able to go to school or if she had to be homeschooled?”

“Well, the agency has decided to enroll Hyejoo into the local elementary school to not arouse suspicion from the locals. And since we want to keep you all within the same environment, you and Miss Kim will be working at the high school joined to the elementary school”.

“What will we be doing?”, Bora asked.

Even though she had experience teaching teens to dance, it was something that she had hated with her whole being. High schoolers could be down right mean and annoying, that’s why she always taught the adults’ classes.

“Since we want to keep your identities safe, you can’t do anything related to your previous life. That means no accounting gigs for you Miss Lee, and no dancing for you Miss Kim”.

At those words, Bora would have had a heart attack if she only had a functioning one and wasn’t  _ technically  _ dead. Dancing was basically her whole life, the thing that kept her going as the years passed her by; and while she could still dance inside the house, it wasn’t the same feeling as dancing in a studio or on a stage, there was no way in hell she couldn’t  _ dance like she wanted to  _ while stuck in this hell.

Seeing Bora was about to protest, Yubin immediately interjected, “It’s for your own safety, the criminals we’re after will surely look all of you up and try to find you based on your habits.”

_ Maybe I should have thought better before agreeing to this _ , Bora thought to herself. Maybe if this weird feeling of protectiveness she felt over Siyeon and Hyejoo wasn’t messing with her head, she would have thought about a better solution for their predicament.

“That being said, Miss Lee you’re going to be the high school’s new music teacher and Miss Kim you’re the new secretary.”

“But”, Siyeon protested, “I _don’t_ _sing_ , there’s no way I can be the music teacher!”

The agent just raised an eyebrow, “Even if you try to deny it, the agency knows everything Miss Lee, they wouldn’t have given you something that could blow your cover up”.

She didn’t know if she was imagining it, but Bora swore Siyeon was getting paler by the minute since she heard her job title, that and the mother’s rapidly beating heart were a sign that being the music teacher was something the woman definitely dreaded.

Trying to distract the other woman, Bora exaggeratedly whined, “A secretary? Why do I get the  _ most _ .  _ boring. job. ever! _ ”.

It seemed like Bora’s pout and her dramatic whining had successfully distracted Siyeon, who snorted at the other’s antics.

“It’s something that’ll give you a little freedom to check on Hyejoo over in the elementary school”, Yubin pointed out. “Moving on, we gave you each a credit card so you can buy whatever you need until you get your first paycheck. Whatever you earn will get deposited into your joint savings account and that’s what you’ll use to pay for your living expenses, the credit card will be left for emergency use only.”

While Siyeon looked over the documents in front of her as the agent went more into detail over the rules, Bora rested her head in one hand and stared at her.

There was something about Siyeon that she just couldn’t exactly point out, the woman was absolutely gorgeous that’s for sure, but something about the way she behaved puzzled Bora.

She had met a lot of beautiful women in her lifetime, but none had ever been like Lee Siyeon. The other women she had met craved the attention they got with their looks, and while some of them had been rather introverted, they were still aware of the effect they had on people and relished on it.

But Lee Siyeon? She was definitely something else. For one, the other woman seemed to make herself smaller, like she wanted to be invisible to the world, there was also the fact that she seemed too young to be a single mother; Bora wondered where the kid’s father was, and if he had anything to do with Hyejoo’s wariness with strangers and Siyeon’s closed off vibes. 

“...once we get all of you makeovers and go shopping, you’ll have to start introducing yourselves to your neighbors and establishing yourselves as a family and part of the community.”

_ A family?, _ that caught Bora’s attention. She discreetly peaked at Siyeon’s documents in front of her, seeing both Siyeon’s and Hyejoo’s new file upside down faces with what would be their new looks, and right next to them she saw their new names:  _ Monica and Olivia Hye. _

_ Oh, we’re sisters, I guess?,  _ Bora thought to herself as she tried to read Siyeon’s file as best as she could upside down. 

(There was something that rubbed her wrong about being seen as sisters, but that was something Bora refused to unpack right now.)

Agent Lee’s chuckle got their attention.

_ Bora, you should really stop zoning out as much as you do, _ Yubin’s mocking voice sounded in the back of her mind.

“Uh, I’m guessing I’m the older sister?”, Bora asked and instantly regretted it when Siyeon looked at her like she had grown two heads.

Confused at the other’s statement, Siyeon asked the agent next to her, “I thought Agent Kim said we were going to be wives?”

“Oh, you are”, the agent tried to contain her smirk when she saw realization dawn into Bora’s eyes; she then gave each woman an engagement and a wedding ring. 

“ _ Wives _ ?”, Bora whispered as she looked over the gold rings nestled in her hand.

The last thought running through her mind before she passed out from shock was that she  _ really  _ should have paid attention to Agent Kim back in the office and to Yubin a while ago, the rings falling out of her hands as she fell from her chair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you all for liking this fic so far, i hope you'll keep on liking what i've in store for this fic.
> 
> you can also find me on tw: @anothershipper  
> cc:/anothershipper
> 
> also, sorry for any mistakes this has been proofread like once (and written while i was in a trance haha) but english aint my first language u.u


	6. i hate the way I get when I can’t handle bad news

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the aftermath of the shocking news that siyeon and her have to pretend they are MARRIED and that hyejoo is THEIR daughter???? 
> 
> bora is really going through it, once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title taken from: melrose diner - the wonder years

_ “...we just...can’t do nothing!...” _

_ “...mommy... she dead?...” _

_ “...honey…please go...living room…” _

_ “...it probably...be the stress…” _

_ “...we need...call an ambulance…” _

_ “...stop worrying so...she’ll be fine…” _

As she came to be, she could make out the sounds of someone talking around her, but even though she tried hard to focus on what they were saying, they sounded mumbled and full of static, like they were coming out from an old and broken radio.

Her head hurt and her body felt heavy, she couldn’t exactly pinpoint what was wrong with her; this was something she hadn’t felt in a while and it unsettled her. She had always been so in tune with her body, even before she had been turned into a vampire, so being out of control of it always made her scared, she hated how vulnerable it made her feel and how she could do nothing to stop it. 

_ Open your eyes, _ the vampire thought, but she struggled with such a simple action; it seemed like her body wasn’t cooperating with her.

The voices grew louder. 

_ “There’s nothing we can do right now but wait for her to wake up” _

_ “How can you be so calm about this? For all we know she could die!” _

_ “If she was dead, we’d know already” _

With all her might, she tried opening her eyes once again and finally succeeded. Everything around her was blurry, but little by little a face revealed itself, a pair of eyes watching her with worry.

_ Wow, such pretty eyes _ , in her delirium Bota focused on the figure in front of her, everything else still seemed a little blurry but  _ her _ .

_ The most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes on, _ Bora’s mind went blank,  _ Is she an angel? _

Was she dead? Had someone finally gotten to put a stake through her heart and kill her? Was that why there was a beautiful angel right in front of her? Was the angel going to welcome her to the pearly white gates of heaven?

Bora shook her head -and then regretted it from the pain that came with it, a groan escaping her lips. No, there was no way she was in heaven; if the legends were true, vampires only had one sure destination after they died ( _ for real this time _ ): hell.

“Don’t move”, the angel said.

_ Wow, her voice is so beautiful,  _ Bora thought as she stared right into the angel’s eyes. 

The angel chuckled, “Thank you”.

_ Did I say that out loud? _

“It seems like she hit her head rather hard, shouldn’t we call an ambulance?”, the angel stopped focusing on Bora and turned to talk to the blob right next to her.

“I think she is going to be fine”, the blob said.

_ Stupid blob, why is she stealing the angel’s attention from me? _ , groaning Bora tried to sit up, immediately a pair of arms wrapped around her and helped her up. She gave the angel that helped her a dopey smile, internally rejoicing about the angel’s attention being back on her again.

_ Take that stupid blob! _

“Maybe this will help”, the blob said before Bora felt a warm liquid on her lips.

“What are you giving her?”, the angel asked.

“Some of the protein I gave her earlier, it will help her. Trust me”

As Bora kept drinking the warm liquid, little by little her eyes could clearly see her surroundings, it seemed like the angel she saw was no other than Siyeon, and the stupid blob next to her was Yubin.

_ Ugh _ ,  _ what the fuck happened _ , Bora drank the last drops of blood from the travel mug Yubin had given her.

_ You passed out _ , Yubin’s voice sounded in her mind, making Bora roll her eyes -something she regretted instantly as she felt a sharp stab of pain in her head-,  _ it was either from drinking blood to fast or from the shock. Or both _ , Yubin chuckled.

Before Bora could mentally answer Yubin, Siyeon asked her softly, “How are you feeling?”

The amount of worry in Siyeon’s eyes was almost foreign to her, aside from Handong, Minji and her own parents, she had never had someone stare at her like  _ that _ , a stranger no less.

“I’m okay, thank you”, Bora said softly.

Siyeon’s eyes ran all over her body, checking if Bora was hurt anywhere, once she got to her face, however, she let out a small gasp, “You’re bleeding!”

Both vampires' eyes went wide.

“I must have bit my lip when I fell or something”, Bora quickly wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

Siyeon was about to say something but the sound of something crashing down coming from the living room distracted her.

“It wasn’t me”, Hyejoo´s not so innocent voice coming from there made Siyeon sigh.

“I’ll be back in a second”, and with that she left the two vampires behind.

As soon as Siyeon was out of sight, Bora looked at Yubin and whispered, “What the fuck happened?”

* * *

Hyejoo had apparently decided that jumping from one end of the couch to the other was a great idea, but instead of completing the feat without a hitch, she had accidentally knocked down the lamp that was on one of the side tables.

They had decided that while Siyeon cleaned up the mess and Hyejoo was put on time out, Bora should rest a little bit on the back porch, since Siyeon thought a little air would do Bora good.

Now that she had some time to herself, the vampire could finally think about the whole ordeal. She couldn’t believe she had to pretend to be  _ married _ and that she was someone’s mother, no less.

(That was a dream that she had left behind a long time ago, and now here she was, finally getting it come true in a  _ really  _ twisted way.)

_ I guess this is karma finally getting back to me, _ the vampire let out a sigh as she looked up to the sky.  _ At least the view is kind of pretty. _

The view wasn’t enough to distract her from her own thoughts, as she looked at the clouds moving her mind ran a mile a minute: Could she really manage to pretend to be married to Siyeon? What about Hyejoo? Could she really pretend to be that little girl’s mother in such formative years of her life? What if she fucked it up? What if she did something that let the kid terribly traumatized and she ended up hating Bora for the rest of her life?

Not that Bora was a stranger to being passionately hated by someone, it was just that there was something about Siyeon and Hyejoo that was  _ different _ . 

(But that was a thought that was better shoved to the deepest farthest places inside her mind; it’d do her no good to start analyzing this weird pull she felt towards the mother & daughter duo.)

Oh, how she wished for Handong to be here. She’d know what to do and the best way to comfort her. She’d have to look up for a way later to contact her, there was no fucking way that Bora would spend however long it took for them to get out of this hellhole without having at least some form of contact with her best friend.

Bora took her face in her hands and screamed in frustration.

_ How did I end up here? _ , before her mind could spiral into darker thoughts, she heard a small  _ psst _ coming from her left.

Slowly, Bora lifted her face from her hands and looked to the source of the noise; Hyejoo seemed to be crouching next to Bora’s chair, hiding from someone.

“Hyejoo, what-?”

Bora couldn’t even finish her sentence when Hyejoo quickly  _ shhh _ -ed her.

The little girl lifted her head a little to look at her surroundings, trying to see if the older woman’s voice had gotten the attention from her mother.

After a few seconds of silence, Hyejoo deemed it safe enough to talk to Bora again.

“Mommy said I should leave you alone til you feel better, but I thought you seemed lonely”.

Hyejoo’s words warmed and amused Bora.

“I could do with some company”, she patted the place next to her, which the girl didn’t hesitate to take in a heartbeat.

They both sat in silence for some minutes; while Hyejoo had sat a little away from Bora at first, as time passed she had started getting closer and closer to the woman until she was buried right into her side.

_ It seems like she really likes me,  _ the vampire thought with a little smile on her face, not saying anything to the little girl, just wrapping an arm around her instead.

Hyejoo’s presence seemed to be what Bora needed to calm her wild and dark thoughts, while there were still some doubts present in her mind, with Hyejoo by her side she actually believed that she could manage not to fuck this up.

* * *

They had left their place on the porch late in the evening, only after it had started raining; once they were inside of the house, Siyeon had ushered both of them to wash their hands since dinner was ready.

Unfortunately, Siyeon had asked Yubin to stay for dinner, which the agent gladly accepted, saying that once they were done they could continue with the debrief.

Now that Bora had enough blood on her system and she was feeling better, she could appreciate Siyeon’s cooking, the other woman was a fantastic cook, the vampire was in awe of how with what little was in the pantry, Siyeon had managed to cook a meal that felt like it could be served on a fancy restaurant.

When Bora had told her that, Siyeon had just blushed and told her it was nothing to be in awe of, that what she cooked had been nothing but a simple meal.

They spent the rest of dinner in a comfortable silence; once they were done, Siyeon had told Hyejoo to start getting ready for bed while the adults talked. The child had started to protest that she was old enough to stay up with them but one warning look from her mother stopped her, making her sigh in defeat before dragging her feet upstairs where all her stuff was.

Bora watched them interact with fondness.

“So…”, the agent cleared her throat to get their attention, “You have to be ready tomorrow at eight o’clock so me and my fellow agents can take you to get your hair colored and cut, some new clothes fitting to your new life and groceries. After we’re done with that, we’ll give you a small tour around town so you can get familiar with your surroundings”.

“When will we start our new jobs?”, Bora asked.

“Well, the sooner the better. But since we know  _ all of this _ ,” the agent waved her hand around, “can take time to get used to, we can manage to give you up to two weeks before you need to start working.”

“What about Hyejoo?”, Siyeon bit her lip, “I don’t want her to fall behind in school”.

“If you want to, she could start next week. There’s no point of her starting school on a Thursday”.

Agent Lee explained with more detail what she had told them in the morning, she went over every single rule they had to follow while being here, which included things like: not contacting anyone from your past life, not mentioning anything about it, trying to keep their covers at all times, and not doing anything that might put them in danger.

While explaining the last one, Yubin had looked directly at Bora, as if trying to warn her from doing something stupid like trying to contact Handong.

It had almost been half an hour when they had started the debrief when Hyejoo had bounced down the stairs and told her mother that she was ready for bed; Siyeon was about to excuse herself to help her daughter when the agent got up from her place.

“It’s late, you should all rest because we have an early day tomorrow. Goodnight”, with those last words, the agent left the house and headed to the guest house.

“I guess it’s time for bed?”, Bora also got up from her place and started following the others upstairs.

Now that she thought about it, Bora hadn’t taken a look upstairs yet. She knew that the last room to the bed was the kid’s room, something that was confirmed when Siyeon and Hyejoo headed there; but the other four closed doors were still a mystery to her.

She started opening one by one, the first one was a spacious full bathroom, the second one was an office, and the third one was a master bedroom that seemed to be lived in, probably the one Siyeon had stayed in the previous one.

Bora went to open the last door, the one she imagined to be the bedroom she would stay in, only to find a small storage space behind it. She closed the door and opened it again, hoping that her eyes were deceiving her, but they weren’t, behind it still was the shelved space she had seen when she had first opened it.

_ No no no no, it can’t be _ , Bora started opening up again every single door she had passed by and ended once again in front of the master bedroom.  _ There can’t be only one bedroom!,  _ cautiously, she entered the room, her steps careful as if the whole place was boobytrapped.

The master bedroom was spacious, it seemed to have a really big closet that extended from one wall to another, a door that led to a full bathroom, a small couch right near the window, a tv mounted on the wall…

... _ and just one bed. _

* * *

It seemed like Bora had spent hours looking at the bed, as if expecting it to suddenly split into two.

“Ah, I see you noticed”, Siyeon’s presence almost made her jump in her place, “there’s only one bedroom apart from the child’s room. I can stay with Hyejoo, it’s no problem for me”.

While having to share a bed with Siyeon made Bora want to run for the hills, the thought of Siyeon having to share what must be a small bed with her daughter bothered the vampire more; there was no way she’d let the other woman sleep uncomfortably for their time here.

(Also, it wasn’t like she needed that much sleep herself, she could last several days without, but that would surely arouse suspicion around her. The last thing she wanted was for her supernatural nature to be revealed.)

“No, I can take the couch”, Bora said with a shake of her head.

Siyeon also shook her head, “The couch is going to be uncomfortable after a while, I can’t let you do that”.

There was only one solution Bora could think of left, “Well, maybe…”, she scratched the back of her neck nervously, “we could share the bed? It’s big enough to both of us”.

“Are you sure? I don’t want to make you uncomfortable, you’ve already done more than enough for us”

“I haven’t really done anything though”

“You saved my daughter, that’s not just anything”, Siyeon lightly touched Bora’s shoulder, and there it was once again, that weird sensation Bora had been feeling since she met them. It wasn’t uncomfortable, per se, just  _ foreign _ . 

The vampire cleared her throat, a blush rising in her cheeks, “Anyone would have done the same”.

Both women knew that wasn’t necessarily true, but neither elaborated further; instead, Siyeon just headed to the closet and opened some drawers, taking some clothes out of them.

“Here, maybe this will fit you”, Siyeon gave a set of pajamas to Bora, who gave her a small thank you before heading to the bathroom to change.

Before long, they were laying down on each side of the bed, trying to stay as far apart from the other as possible. The silence that surrounded became awkward as they realized the other hadn’t fallen asleep yet, both feeling hyper aware of their surroundings. 

_ Well, this is awkward,  _ the vampire thought as a small sigh was heard from her left.

“It is”, Siyeon whispered back.

“Oh my god, did I say that out loud?”

“Yes”, Siyeon chuckled, and with that the awkwardness started dissipating.

“I just..” Bora turned to lay on her side facing Siyeon, who did the same thing as her, “...I never imagined to end up like this, you know?”

“I know”, she gave Bora a small smile. “The only thing that’s stopping me from taking my daughter away from here is that her safety comes first.”

Bora nodded in agreement, which made the mother look at her pensively.

“Is there something on my face?”, the vampire asked.

“It’s just… Hyejoo already trusts you so much and that’s something so…”

“Weird?”

“...different.  _ Good _ kind of different, I mean.”, Siyeon shook her head and ended with a whisper, “There’s just something about you…”

Bora said nothing, since she too felt that there was  _ something _ about the pair.

They both kept staring at each other in silence, a comfortable one this time, neither wanted to break the bubble they were in.

Siyeon’s eyes started to drop, but before she fell into a deep sleep she murmured, “This may sound weird, but I’m glad it’s you we’re stuck with”.

The vampire could only stare at Siyeon in wonder while she pondered her words; it wasn’t necessarily  _ weird _ , more than a little bit unexpected? Sure. But Bora couldn’t deny how she was also glad she was stuck with this little family, despite the unusual circumstances.

And as she took in the other woman’s striking features, Bora resisted the urge of running a hand through her face, wondering if her skin was as soft as it looked; shaking her head, the vampire turned back around and closed her eyes, willing herself to fall asleep so she could stop thinking dangerous things.

(Which she ultimately failed at.) 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you like it!!
> 
> disclaimer: all mistakes are mine, english is not my first language.
> 
> you can also find me on  
> tw: @anothershipper  
> cc:/anothershipper  
> ☕: /anothershipper

**Author's Note:**

> fsdsfhjk this is my first dc fic (and the first serious fic i've written in years). updates may be slow cause of work and school. i hope you like it fdgklsjskl
> 
> english ain't my first language
> 
> twitter: @anothershipper


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